A China Cabinet Paint Makeover (and A Little Decoupage Too!)

If you found this outdated china cabinet, would you buy it?

I did!

The 1970’s Fake Wood and avocado green backsplash might have scared away some people, but not me.

I knew at first glance this baby was the perfect candidate for a china cabinet paint makeover. (And a little decoupage too!)

Don’t believe me?

Look at this updated china cabinet now!

I decided right away that I would paint this china cabinet and decoupage the backsplash.

We are now selling decoupage papers at our store All Things New Again in Leesburg, Virginia (and here in our online store).

What I couldn’t decide was which beautiful pattern of decoupage paper to choose?

I narrowed it down to three … and asked my Furniture Painting Friday Friends which one they liked best. Furniture Painting Friday is our free weekly “mini” paint lesson. We do a live video over on our All Things New Again Facebook Page every Friday at 12 noon (eastern). This china cabinet paint makeover happened over several weeks and with a lot of help from our viewers who voted on different design decisions along the way.

I think they made great choices—starting with the decoupage paper!

Here are my

Tips for Decoupaging Paper Napkins Onto Furniture.

(If you use decoupage paper instead of napkins, you can skip Step #2.)

Before applying the decoupage paper, I painted over all of that avocado green with Dixie Belle Paint Company’s Blueberry just to freshen it up a bit. Blueberry is the same color I used on the shelves and interior walls before glazing with Unicorn SPiT.I usually create bold patterns with Unicorn SPiT (like this) but on the china cabinet paint makeover, I wanted a softer look. I practiced on a sample board first before painting, glazing and waxing the shelves.

Here’s the video tutorial showing how I created this look:

Finally, my china cabinet paint makeover needed a little paint! I used Dixie Belle Paint Company products, the chalk/mineral paint we sell at All Things New Again and use in our monthly Learn How to Paint Furniture class.

The nice thing about Dixie Belle is it S-T-I-C-K-S to all of that 1970’s Fake Wood with minimal prep work. You do have to give it extra cure time on slicker surfaces, but the wait is worth it. Bye-bye 1970’s Fake Wood!

I painted the details with Blueberry, the same color from the interior. After it dried, I painted over the entire outside with Cotton, one of Dixie Belle’s new colors. Then I distressed to reveal a little bit of blue here and there, sanding down to the bare wood in some places.

Here’s our referral link to Dixie Belle’s products if you want to check it out.

And here’s the china cabinet again!

I’m so glad I didn’t let a little avocado green and 1970’s Fake Wood scare me. I love how the china cabinet paint makeover turned out!

~ Courtney

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All Things New Again is a family-owned furniture and paint boutique in Leesburg, Virginia, about an hour or so west of Washington, D.C. We sell hand-painted furniture, several lines of paint for your next DIY project, and offer fun painting classes and workshops. Stop by the next time you are in town!

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We’re linking up with:

Friday’s Furniture Fix #109

Go check out some of the best furniture makeovers on the Internet!